Our family weekend staycation is inclusive of a complimentary Friday brunch, dinner and breakfasts.

With just a cup of coffee in the morning before checking in, we were pretty hungry by midday. We drop off our bags in our room and went down to have lunch at Arabesque.

Seeing that we have kids with us, the smiling and friendly wait staff who addressed me by my first name ushered us to a table for four near the kids zone.

Kids Zone

The Kids Zone floor has soft rubber mats and the walls are painted with colorful characters. It has a TV that play cartoons and a small table with colorful chairs. An addition of a few kid friendly and engaging toys for children would have been nice. Since it was a Friday brunch, there was a clown and free face painting for kids.

Another part of the restaurant dedicated to kids, up the stairs that leads to the door to the courtyard, were three computers with free WiFi. My son and my daughter were both happy to see it although we only allowed them to use it after finishing their lunch. We gave them few minutes to play as we try to limit their screen time these days. One hour screen time on smart phones, tablets and TV is what they get daily.

Friday Brunch

Even in the buffet spread, there is a special corner for children. There's a pancake station, sugar and chocolate coated doughnuts, small sandwiches, a couple of bowl of fresh fruits and some sweet treats.

Doughnuts, gummy bears and colored coated chocolate minis went on to Prince plate, he said it will be his dessert. In the mean time he and his sister had a proper lunch with food from the main buffet spread.

The Friday brunch buffet includes a wide variety of delicious hot and cold mezze, cold cuts, cheeses and salads. There was a soup and freshly baked bread station and a table for Arabic drinks and fresh juices.

Friday brunch is priced at 109 dhs per person inclusive of soft drinks and water. 49 dhs for kids age 6 to 12. 6 years and below eat for free.

Although the restaurant was busy, the very relaxed atmosphere gave us the chance to savor our food.

Ferald as he usually do, filled his plate with main dishes while I started with some warm seafood soup. My meal is never complete without a rainbow of salads and starters.

A colorful plate like this one makes me happy, gives me the feeling I am eating healthy. That pink mezze is beetroot moutabal, it pique my curiosity when I saw it and I was right, it was yummeh!!!

I wanted to try everything served on the buffet spread but it would mean no dinner for me after that. I just had to have some of those chicken biryani that I missed so much.

A friend use to cook this dish for us at home but she has long gone to the Philippines and sad to say, I never learned to cook it myself so when I saw this huge pot of chicken biryani, in my head I was doing a happy dance.

Dessert includes tropical fruits in season and variety of cakes. Look at this chocolate cake, it was soft and moist and oh so good.

The Um Ali is one of the desserts highlight. I am not a big fan of this dessert but having it from time to time wouldn't hurt. I got to tell you though that my husband and daughter like this Arabic sweet.

After lunch, we went to the courtyard to get some fresh air (ummm..) to take some photos of course before going back to our hotel room.

We went down to the pool to swim and relax while revering at the sunset before getting ready for dinner.

SUNDAY Exotic Asian, MONDAY International Feast, TUESDAY Authentic Italian, WEDNESDAY Sizzling BBQ and THURSDAY Arabian Flavour.
I was expecting a grandiose Friday theme night dinner but apparently there was just a normal Friday dinner that night and the International Feast I thought we were suppose to have is only offered on Monday nights. Nonetheless, the food in the buffet that night were all tasty and delicious.

It includes dishes such as tender beef stragonoff, fish in butter-lemon sauce, perfectly grilled hammour, pasta in tomato sauce, soft and juicy chicken barbecue, crispy spring rolls, savory cumin potatoes and flavorful meat kebabs. Everything looks appetizing and all taste as good as it looks.

The appetizers and desserts were more or less the same to what we had during brunch time.

Breakfast

For two mornings I was excited to get up, even if I slept late the night before and even if I am not a morning person. The reason being, I look forward to breakfast, my favorite meal of the day especially when we are in a hotel. Isn't it delightful to see and eat a big breakfast? Truth be told, hotel breakfast is awesome.

Before I can sit for a nice breakfast, the boss has to get his first. What I didn't expect is he can already prepare it by himself. So much confidence, I am seeing in him an independent child. I just have to be there to supervise, make sure there are no spills.

I no longer worry for the big sister, she already know what she likes and can take care of herself.

The waitstaff offered coffee and refills are easy to come by, hot chocolate are also available as per the kids request. The staff were very attentive, Ferald and I can't stop talking about how much hands on they are to their guests which was really wonderful.

There was never a time that the restaurant manager did not come to our table to greet us as well as the rest of the diners table to check if everything was alright. Even the staff come to us to ask if there is anything else we need. We were spoiled!

My breakfast plate was more or less full English but there are other option of Arabic and Indian dishes.

There were also fresh fruits, different types of cheese, fresh juices, porridge, breakfast cereals, jams and dried fruits, pancakes, and three types of eggs (boiled, mexican and scrambled.) There was so much to chose from.

Thank you Arabesque and Arjaan Dubai for taking care of us. Our two days stay was already pleasurable but it was made special because of the extraordinary treatment that your staff showed us.

We are simply grateful. From me and my family to yours, Salam!

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About Me

Carla is a lifestyle blogger based in Dubai who's thankful to call this ever-evolving city her second home. The pages of this blog are filled with stories about her and her family's expat life in the sandpit. It mostly features dining and travel adventures in and around the city and beyond. It also features food recipes, parenting tips, and her own fashion style.